Prosecutors Hid Evidence, Say Lawyers For Williams

By ROBERT HANLEY

Published: April 2, 2004

SOMERVILLE, N.J., April 1—
The aggravated manslaughter trial of Jayson Williams was disrupted on Thursday when the defense accused prosecutors of violating the rules of evidence and interfering with Mr. Williams's right to a fair trial.

The allegations turned a day set aside for a last bit of testimony into momentary disarray. Judge Edward M. Coleman sent jurors home shortly after they took their seats and then opened an immediate hearing into the defense accusations. Chief among them were that prosecutors had concealed evidence from the defense team, had failed to correct tainted testimony, and had possibly committed misconduct during the trial.

''Mr. Williams has been denied a fair trial by the prosecution,'' one of the defense lawyers, William R. Martin, told Judge Coleman.

Another defense lawyer, Joseph A. Hayden, said he and his colleagues would wait until the end of the hearing to ask for a penalty or a remedy, which, he said, could include requests for a mistrial, dismissal of charges, or the right to recall two defense weapons experts who testified that a malfunction could have caused the shotgun blast that killed Costas Christofi at Mr. Williams's country estate in February 2002.

The issue that created the courtroom turmoil dealt with Mr. Williams's 10-year-old Browning Citori shotgun and an inspection of the gun by a Browning vice president on Feb. 5, 2003, at the office of the chief prosecutor, Steven C. Lember.

Before the trial, Mr. Lember gave the defense team a report by the Browning vice president, Larry Nelson, that he had examined the gun. However, it was disclosed on Thursday that Mr. Nelson had taken the gun partially apart by removing its wooden handle and then inspecting its internal mechanism. He also took 23 photographs of various parts of the gun.

Under the rules of evidence in criminal trials in New Jersey, the defense lawyers said, the prosecutors were obligated to provide the defense team the photographs and notes Mr. Nelson took on the disassembly of the gun. Mr. Martin, Mr. Hayden and a third lawyer, Michael Kelly, complained to Judge Coleman that they did not receive the notes and photographs until 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Mr. Lember admitted at the outset of Judge Coleman's hearing that he had failed to provide the defense the notes and photos in a timely fashion.

''It was unintentional,'' Mr. Lember said. ''There was no effort on the part of the state to hide anything.''

During the hearing, the defense lawyers argued that if they knew Mr. Nelson had taken the shotgun apart, they most likely would have asked their two weapons experts different questions when they testified. One of the experts, Richard Ernest of Fort Worth, Tex., took the gun's handle off during an inspection in November 2002. He testified that wood chips fell out from the joint where the handle connected to the rest of the shotgun.

In a second examination, in June 2003, Mr. Ernest said he took apart the gun's firing mechanism and found more wood chips, as well as pits of metal and rust. He also said crucial pieces of the mechanism were worn and rounded. He argued that the debris and the aged parts could have caused a malfunction when Mr. Williams snapped the shotgun upward, slamming its open barrels into a closed position, as he pointed it toward Mr. Christofi, a 55-year-old chauffeur.

Mr. Martin also argued that Mr. Lember had allowed the state's ballistics expert, Detective Sgt. James Ryan of the New Jersey State Police, to give false testimony. He told the judge that Detective Ryan had testified that shotgun was examined by two people--himself and Mr. Ernest. Mr. Martin asserted that Detective Ryan did not know that the Browning executive, Mr. Nelson, had taken the gun apart three months after Mr. Ernest's first inspection of it.

Mr. Lember retained Mr. Nelson months ago as a consultant.

During questioning by Mr. Kelly, one of the defense lawyers, Mr. Nelson said he told Mr. Lember of the existence of the 23 photographs and his notes last August, when he submitted his report about his inspection of the gun. Mr. Nelson said he asked Mr. Lember at the time if he wanted him to submit the pictures and notes along with the report. He said Mr. Lember told him to send only the report and then the photos and notes at a later date.

Mr. Nelson told Judge Coleman that the two never talked again about the notes and pictures until Wednesday night, when they began preparing for Mr. Nelson's scheduled trial testimony on Thursday.

Mr. Nelson said that he brought the material to the meeting and that Mr. Lember seemed startled when he mentioned it. ''I think he just forgot,'' Mr. Nelson said.